London children reflect on World War One at UCL-run workshops

Schools across East London took part in more than 40 UCL-run workshops commemorating the centenary of the First World War Armistice.

Developed by UCL Special Collections, in conjunction with the UCL Institute of Education, the workshops combined historical enquiry with poetry and creative writing. Children from schools in Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Waltham Forest and Newham participated.

In November, local schoolchildren visited the Shrouds of the Somme project, the work of artist Rob Heard, at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The project featured 72,000 hand-made shrouded figures, each one representing one of the soldiers killed at the battle whose bodies were never recovered. 

Vicky Price, Education Co-ordinator (UCL Special Collections), said: "You can teach the details but one thing that's almost impossible to do is help children to understand the scale of the sacrifices made during the First World War. Visiting the site of the Shrouds helped bring this message home."

---

Read more about how UCL is engaging London or browse all case studies.